Background: No studies were found on a caries pattern using Caries Assessment Spectrum and Treatment (CAST) index in the literature in Egypt. The aim of this study was to evaluate caries using CAST index in primary dentition in a group of Egyptian children.
Methods: A total of 201 children with age range from three to six years old were selected from outpatients' clinic of two educational universities. A specially designed assessment chart was filled for each patient using caries assessment spectrum and treatment index. Categorical data were analyzed utilizing fisher exact test. p values were adjusted (p-value > 0.05 is considered significant) for multiple comparisons using benforroni correction.
Results: Among total 201 children, 70% of the children had healthy primary teeth (code 0-2), 18.7% of the children had non cavitated dentine with visual changes in enamel and discoloration in dentine with code (3-4), 6.4% had cavitated dentin with intact pulp chamber (code 5), 0.6% had cavitated dentin involved pulp chamber (code 6), 1.5% had pus containing swelling (code 7) and 2.8% of the children had lost their teeth due to caries (code 8). No teeth were scored with code 9.
Conclusion: The study proved the usefulness of the CAST index in epidemiological surveys. Based on the results of the current study, CAST index can be suggested to be used as an alternative to DMFT index due to its' accuracy in scoring the entire spectrum of dental caries and its' reliability.